In this blog post, Gordon Hunt, Head of Insight, Planning and Impact, and Jo Turbitt, Insight and Innovation Partner, introduce CDN’s Insights and Innovations Hub – a dynamic resource designed to bring research to life and help college staff access practical ideas, inspiration, and techniques they can apply in their daily practice. They also explain how you can get involved, share your own innovations, and learn from colleagues across the sector.
Ever since we launched CDN’s Research and Enhancement Centre in April 2021 we’ve been curious to explore what we can learn from the innovations taking place in all aspects of college delivery across the sector in Scotland and beyond. We’ve published a range of reports in areas such as school-college partnerships, trauma-informed practice, college governance and the changing learner, with more to come.
As our work has evolved and as we’ve engaged with the colleagues across the sector who perform small miracles every day to support and inspire their students, we’ve developed our approach to recognise that, with limited time and resources available to staff, they need to be able to access ideas, techniques and examples in a manageable way.
That’s why we have evolved the Research and Enhancement Centre into the Insights and Innovations Hub, our rapidly developing resource on CDN’s LearnOnline platform that combines our more detailed research with a range of different ways of accessing content.
Or to put it another way, the Hub was created to ensure research doesn’t just sit in 120-page reports. Instead, it aims to provide sparks of inspiration and stories that help busy staff in the college sector quickly find ideas they can apply to their daily practice.
Recognising that users have different needs, the Hub is designed to be dextrous and usable for both messy and logical thinkers. It offers various formats, including case studies, visual content, podcasts, and summaries, allowing users to grab one great idea without needing to spend days reviewing material.
Not only that, but we’re aiming to be agile and to get insights out to you as soon as we can, so we’re embracing a work in progress mentality, believe that when creating resources, initiatives or projects that we shouldn’t wait for perfection before trying something out. This rough and ready approach is intended to mirror the real-world process of testing ideas and learning from what doesn’t work the first time.
Most recently we’ve been inspired by colleagues in the sector who’ve been telling us about the impact of implementing incremental changes from their engagement with CDN’s training, seeing innovation as a daily process rather than a massive overhaul. We’ll be incorporating these ideas into the Hub under the heading of ‘small but mighty changes’.
It’s important to emphasise that the Hub is not role-specific; it is intended for anyone in the college community, from principals and lecturers to receptionists and estates staff. It functions as a two-way street where users are encouraged to dive in and share their own creative projects and ideas to inspire others across the sector.
Ultimately, we want to create a community-driven resource, because while we’ll be looking outwards to what we can learn from innovation in education worldwide, we’re privileged to be able to see and report on all the innovations that are happening right here in our sector, which even in a challenging climate is delivering for students and communities every day.
Please do dive in an explore the Insights and Innovations Hub, and indeed all the other parts of LearnOnline. Jo and Gordon have recorded a short podcast that talks a bit more about what we’re aiming to achieve with the Hub which can be found on the main page, and that’s a good place to start. See you there!
